Rochester in the Abyss
by chowdahrogansora
Summary: After being saved by Jane from a fire, Rochester is swept away by a mysterious force into a world named Auldrant. Meeting people who also seem lost, they join forces to get back home.


_**(A/N)**__: I... definitely didn't expect to write anything like this! lol We were reading _The Eyre Affair _by Jasper Fforde in English, and just the other day, we were assigned to write a story where one fictional character was plunged into a different story. Our teacher wanted us to do two completely different stories, so I chose Rochester from _Jane Eyre_ and put him into the story of _Tales of the Abyss_, mainly because of the clash of character between Luke and Rochester! XDD Just so you know, Rochester is plucked out just after Jane saved him from the fire Bertha started. I'm thinking of continuing this, actually, since I end in a cliffhanger and the offset of time Rochester causes is actually significant! So anyway, enjoy!_

I stirred in a bed I was not used to. My room had just been burned to a crisp some time ago, and I had to sleep elsewhere. I was to get an explaination from Grace in the morning, but I still worried for my Jane Eyre. Images flew through my head; of Jane, my shameful past, and what could possibly happen in the future. I was able to drift into slumber finally, and I began to dream. I saw a bright light and felt as if I were flying. When the light faded, I first saw a land covered in a dull purple mud with a sole beacon of light which I assumed to be a city to my left. As I neared what I discovered was the crust of the Earth, my vision darkened again. My flighty feelings went away and I felt the texture of grass where I sat. Suddenly, a woman with dark green hair appeared in front of me. She looked at me curiously, and spoke: "Sir...? Sir, are you okay?" I soon realized I was awake.

I scrambled to my feet upon this and looked around me. It was night, with a large full moon near the hoizon of what seemed to be a bay. I walked over and saw that we were on a cliff. Baffled, I stepped back. I tripped and landed on my arse. I noticed that the flowers I was sitting in were glowing, independent of the moonlight. I picked one up and watched it in amazement. Noticing my interest, the woman spoke from behind me. "Those are Moon Lilies, or Flowers of Yulia," she stated. "They glow only when there is no sunlight." I turned to her. Upon inspection, she did not seem a day over eighteen years, but her features were very mature and developed, and one might call her beautiful. Her tone of voice was calm and collected, and there was not a hint of malice in it, either. She wore white, elbow-long gloves, and her robe matched her hair color, with designs that were similar to a musical score. "I didn't come for a botany lesson," said a new voice. "In fact, I never wanted to come at _all_!" I turned again. A haughty young man with unruly, red hair and a sword sheathed in his belt stormed over to the woman. "Where the heck are we!" he yelled. The woman took his hands off. "Our contact must have caused a hyperresonance," she said, disregarding the man's question, "I didn't take you as a Seventh Fonist; that was my foolish mistake."

I stood up and looked at the red-haired man, reasoning that he had no more idea about what was going than I. "Excuse me," I finally said. The woman acknowledged me. "I'm afraid I must reiterate the question: Where _are_ we?" The woman frowned. "I'm afraid I'm as lost as you," she said. "Bull crap!" shouted the man. "You're the one who attacked _me!_"

"Like I said, I didn't know fighting you would cause this to happen! No one could have predicted this!" She looked at me. "I don't even remember seeing you at the castle," she said, "but I can tell the timing was unfortunate, and I apologize." The woman bowed lightly. 'At least someone here has manners,' I thought. "While you are correct," I said, "Think nothing of it. I am Edward Rochester." I held out my hand, and she took it. "Tear Grants," she replied. "Don't worry, Mr. Rochester, I promise I'll get you home." The young man spoke up: "What about me!" "Yes, I'll get you home too, Luke." It was clear that Tear was trying to hold in her annoyance with him. "But if we stay here complaining," she continued, "We won't even find out where we are, and it doesn't help that there are monsters lurking about!" My eyes widened in fear. Luke looked at me. "Why do have to bring along Gramps here?" he said. "Just look at him! He started shaking at the word 'monster'! This guy couldn't hold his own in a fight." I squared up and retaliated, "I should say the same about you! Your sword seems capable, but if it's truly the wielder that makes the sword, then we're in a spot of trouble!"

"Are you saying I'm weak!"

"Strong in the head, but weak in the mind!"

"H-hey! I'm not dumb...!"

Luke scrambled for something to say: "At... at least I'm dressed properly! Not even the girliest man on Auldrant would wear something that frilly!"

Now, THAT I took much offense to. "I'll have you know that these garments were tailored by the best in the world and is a symbol of high status where I come from!"

"And where exactly is _that_!"

"_England_, of course!"

Before Luke could say anything else, Tear broke us up. "Guys, calm down," she said cooly. "This isn't getting us anywhere, but..." She turned to me. "You said... England?" I nodded. Tear thought for a moment, then spoke again: "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of an 'England'..." My eyes widened. "N-never heard of- That's impossible! We are the most powerful country in all of Europe!" Tear shook her head again. "I'm sorry," she said, "but the only two powerful countries I know of are those of Malkuth and Kimlasca-Landvaldear... Even Luke knows that." "So this guy's really just a crazy old man?" Luke spat. Before I could retaliate, Tear answered: "I don't think so, Luke... I can tell he believes he's telling the truth."

"Don't crazy men think that too?"

"Be quiet. I'm trying to think... Maybe the Hyperresonance was so strong, it disturbed the reality of another world, as well... So either we're still in Auldrant accompanied by a Rochester of England, or we're in his world..."

I began to worry. "For God's sake, I hope it is the latter..." Tear shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she said. She kneeled over and picked up the glowing flower. "These Moon Lillies... I don't know if they're only indigenous here..." My heart sank as I realized the truth. "Save your breath," I said despondently, "I have never seen such a plant and I don't believe it exists in my world..." I stepped away and began complaining to myself: "Who is to take care of my estate if I am in another world! I could hardly believe it was possible! And what of Adele? And Grace? And my Jane? And that... wretched woman..." Tear placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry," she assured me, "We'll find a way."

"What's this 'we' business?" Luke said. "I don't want any part of this!" Tear glared at him. "Fine, then you can find your own way out of here." Tear began walking away. I followed her. Luke looked around anxiously and ran to us, eventually, yelling, "Wait for me!"

We had discovered at river along the way; I quickly realized that we must have been near water. If we followed the riverflow, it would lead us to the mouth, where, if we were lucky, there would be a port. None of us knew the geography of where we were, but it was a start. I decided to ask Tear about what had happened that got us here. She gladly explained, knowing that I was not familiar with this world at all. "I was... visiting the castle in Baticul, the capital of Kimlasca, where I wanted to speak with my brother..."

"Talk!" Luke interrupted, "You were there to kill him!" I looked at him, astonished. "Surely, it was not...?" "Surely it was! If I hadn't been there, she would have succeeded in killing my master!" I looked back at Tear. "Hmm yes... And when we crossed blades," she said without looking at us, "that's when the hyperresonance occured and... here we are." She looked at me. "I'll explain hyperresonances to you when we're somewhere safer."

"I could care less about that right now," I said firmly. "Why would you want to kill Luke's master? And from what I understand, he's your brother, too!" Tear sighed. "...I'm part of a religious military group called the Oracle Knights. I'm a Locrian General, which is a high rank; I get assigned missions that are confidential and cannot be disclosed to civilians. I apologize."

"That does not excuse your behavior!"

"Yeah! What did Master Van ever do to you!"

Tear raised her voice. "Not _only_ is it confidential, it's also _personal_, and I DON'T want to talk about it!" She walked ahead of us, fuming.

"Tch, what's wrong with that chick?" Luke muttered.

The three of us had barely spoken since that moment, except one time when Tear commented on the scarcity of monsters this night. We were all relieved, when we spotted a road, but also very tired. We rested, and I took a drink from the river. A man carrying buckets spotted us; it seemed he was going to get water as well. He dropped his empty bucket looking at us in fear. "Oh no!" he cried. "The Dark Wings!" Tear tried to calm him down, but it was no good. "No way! There are three of you, and look at that guy!" he pointed at me. "Only someone from the Dark Wings would wear something like that!" The man ran off. Tear frantically chased him, but to no avail. She sighed as she returned to us. "What's the big deal, it was just some guy," said Luke.

Tear scowled at him. "Think, Luke. All that man had on him was a bucket."

"Okay, so?"

"It's clear he didn't get here on foot."

I broke into the conversation, "So you're saying that man had a vehicle of sorts!"

Tear sighed and nodded. Luke caught on and got angry. "GRRR! That was our one chance to get out of this dumb valley and you let him get away!"

"There was no point-"

"Of course there was a point! My feet are killing me from walking so long, and now thanks to _this_ guy," he pointed at me, "I'm not getting home anytime soon!"

"You can't blame all this on me!" I yelled.

"Yes I can! Everything that's happened so far has been your fault!"

Tear rubber her temples. "Guys! Calm down. Luke, don't say such things, especially when you know you're wrong."

It was silent for a moment. At length, I asked Tear who the Dark Wings were. She had no idea either. I paused and looked down at my clothing. Realizing that _I_ was truly the one at fault, I slumped to the ground. "I'm terribly sorry," I apologized solemnly. "If I weren't here, you two probably would have been sleeping the night away on that man's caravan. Or whatever vehicle this world utilizes..."

"A caravan sounds about right," Tear said casually, "but don't worry about it. We'll think of a way." Luke stepped forward. "Stop being so nice to him!" he yelled. "He's been nothing but trouble! Even he admitted it was his fault!"

Tear got angry. "Luke, _you've_ been nothing but trouble!"

"What's your problem! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You didn't do _anything_ but complain!"

I grew weary of their arguing and lay down on the ground. Tear and Luke continued arguing as I drifted to sleep.

To be honest, I half-expected to wake up back at Thornfield, but alas, I was still in the world they called Auldrant by morning... I sat up, and Tear and Luke were gone. Had they left me? I lay back down to find Tear standing over me. "Good. You're awake," she said. "Get up, we have a ride to the capital."

I followed Tear to Luke and who I soon saw was the man who had run from us the previous night. Tear explained that he was told to return to the river to give them a ride. "He said he knew you," the man said, "and that we'd all be in big trouble if you didn't get to the capital soon."

"What a stroke of luck!" I smiled. His caravan was just a few metres behind him and I was about to climb on when Tear stopped me. "Hold on," she said, thinking, "Isn't it a bit convenient that someone who knows us just _happened_ to know we were standed here too?" Luke followed me to the caravan. "Who cares? It probably just means I'm closer to home than we thought!" Tear sighed and man spoke. "Now, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask for payment." "Payment?" I exclaimed. "I thought you were doing this of your own free will!" "I run a delivery service, not a taxi. I've already wasted enough time sidetracking back here. I apologize, but that's business." "How much?" Tear asked.

"Twelve thousand Gald. _Apiece._ Got enough on you?"

"That's a bit pricey..."

Luke had already climbed onto the wagon. "Really? Sounds cheap to me," he said. "My dad'll take care of it when we get there."

"That's no good," the man said. "I need payment in advance."

Tear took out a trinket with a blue gem. She seemed to tear up (no pun intended), so it seemed it was important to her... "...Take this," she said. The coachman took the gem with interest. "Woah! This is some gem..." I jumped off the caravan and took the cranny from his hand. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary," I said. "What are you doing, Rochester!" Luke shouted. "That's our only ticket out of here!" I ignored him and continued.

"You should tell that I am not from the vicinity from my clothing. However, where I _am_ from, I am very wealthy. It isn't very wise to carry much coin at once, but I always keep a few gold coins on me..." I reached into my wallet and took out four gold pieces and gave it to the coachman. "It may not be your currency, but it's still made of gold, so it should still be worth something." "Mr. Rochester, you don't have to do this," Tear said. "I may want to get home post-haste," I replied, "but not at the expense of a precious memory." I handed the trinket to Tear, who took it with tears in her eyes. "Thank you... Rochester..."

"Save the mushy stuff until _after_ I get home, _please_!" Luke shouted. I chuckled and climbed aboard. "It's a bit... dingy, isn't it?" Tear followed me in. "Don't complain," she said. "It's our only ride." It truly was, though. I shooed a couple of chickens so I could sit; I dusted the bench and reluctantly sat down. Once he saw we were all seated, the coachman started off. "This wood..." I said, "is _really_ uncomfortable..." "And you're telling me to stop complaining..." Luke scoffed. Tear chuckled.

I could see that we were nearing a nicely-built bridge. I stared at the sky, wondering how long it would be before I could return to Thornfield... I thought of Jane Eyre when the coach suddenly rocked.

"HEY! Watch where you're going!" yelled a gruff voice that quickly went away. "What the heck was that!" Luke yelled. "Another coach just hit us," said the coachman. "There's a landship headed this way too... Those must have been the Dark Wings I mistook you for!" Tear carefully leaned out of the window to see better. Tear gasped. "and they're putting gunpowder on the bridge!" Luke sat up with a start. "Are you saying they're going to blow up the bridge!" I peeked out the back. From the back of the Dark Wings' coach stood a man, in clothes much like mine, lighting a match. It was then I knew that my troubles- or rather, all of ours- were far from over.

_**(A/N)**__: Welllll, there you go. lol I had lots of fun writing this. The main thing I'm hoping for is an accurate portrayal of Rochester, and his interactions with the other characters. I find it funny how they [rochester and Luke] are bickering often but are both wealthy and both act a bit snobbish XP I'm still thinking of a way that Rochester would actually play a more active role in the story other than offsetting the events, buuut that'll come soon enough. lol anyway, read and review! no flames please._


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